June 18, 2016
Cinematic Underground: June
Wrong side of the tracks, living in a shantytown, the loneliest man in Iceland, and small-town Turkish dramas
By Kevin Mcgue
The loosely-based-on-a-true-story Dessau Dancers looks at the breakdancing scene in a very unlikely locale—communist East Berlin. In 1985, teenagers watch a smuggled copy of seminal film Beat Street and try moonwalking for themselves. When authorities brand it an act of subversion, the dancers convince them that “acrobatic show dancing” is actually good for the masses and get state funding. Busting a move at Human Trust Cinema Shibuya starting June 25
Cocoti Bldg.7,8F 1-23- 16, Shibuya-ku; www.ht-cinema.com.
Portuguese director Pedro Costa returns once again to Fontainhas, a shantytown in the capital Lisbon that was demolished a decade ago. The drug addicts and immigrants that were displaced by the urban cleansing have often served as subjects of his films, which tend to blur the line between documentary and fiction. His latest effort Horse Money follows an immigrant from Cape Verde as he looks for the places that once supported his life, all in Costa’s paced, painterly style. On from June 18 at Eurospace
1-5 Maruyamacho, Shibuya-ku; www.eurospace.co.jp.
The Icelandic film Virgin Mountain peers into the life of perhaps the loneliest man in the country—a hulking 43-year-old airport baggage handler who lives with his mom and has never had sex. But when Fusi falls in love with a pretty woman, he begins to break down the walls he has carefully constructed around himself. Starts late June at Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho
2-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku; www.ht-cinema.com.
The Turkish drama Mustang centers on five orphaned sisters living with guardians in a small village. When they are spotted innocently talking to boys, they are put under lock and key while arranged marriages are planned. On from June 11 at Cine Switch in Ginza
4-4- 5 Ginza, Chuo-ku; www.cineswitch.com.